AUDITION NOTICE Key dates and venues - Workshop | Tuesday 4 December 2018 7pm - Auditions | Saturday 8 December, Tuesday 11 December and Thursday 13 December 2018 - Recalls | Saturday 15 December 2018 - Read-through | Monday 17 December 2018 - Performances | 9-13 April 2018 - Workshop, audition, recall and rehearsal venue | 1 Brewers' Hall Garden, London EC2V 5DX - Performance venue | Bridewell Theatre, Bride Lane, London EC4Y 8EQ To book an audition, please read the full audition notice, then sign up at https://membership.sedos.co.uk/signup/ ABOUT THE SHOW “It’s the bright young things over again, only they were never bright and now they’re not even young” After the Dance by Terence Rattigan is a hilarious, heartbreaking and hauntingly beautiful play. Despite being a critical success when it premiered in 1938, the looming declaration of war meant it was quickly forgotten until a 2010 revival at the National Theatre brought it back to prominence. Written as an attack on the hedonistic lifestyle of the ‘bright young things’ of the 1920s and 30s, the play's action takes place on the eve of the Second World War in the drawing-room of the Scott- Fowlers’ flat in Mayfair, a fashionable part of London. The play focuses on David Scott-Fowler and his wife Joan who revel in their hard-drinking, hard-partying lifestyle and maintain they married for amusement and not love. When a third figure comes into the equation the couple have to face the truth of their lives to disastrous consequence. Rattigan’s masterpiece combines elements of tragedy with savage and at time raucous humour, examining the themes of love, ageing and the capacity for people to change. It also showcases a range of extraordinary, larger than life characters the are engaging and enjoyable of audiences and actors alike. VISION OF THE SHOW Our vision for the piece is to place emphasis on the themes and dialogue of Rattigan’s work and ensure it has 'room to breathe’. Our aim is to evoke the 1930’s setting and the opulence of the ‘Bright Young Things’ era but also to present the characters in a stylish setting which does not distract from character. For all design elements we will be placing an emphasis on keeping things clean, light and relatively simple, drawing inspiration from successful revivals of pieces from the period across television and theatre such as the BBC adaption of ‘And Then There Were None’ and the Old Vic’s revival of Rattigan’s ‘The Winslow Boy’. Throughout the rehearsal process we are looking forward to collaborating with the full cast in order to fully flesh out the range of character and create a real sense of the extravagant chaos and looming tragedy that permeates the Scott-Fowler’s lives. ABOUT THE TEAM Director | Jon Foster Jon currently works in Corporate Philanthropy. In 2018, he directed A Dolls House by Henrik Ibsen for Sedos. In addition to A Doll’s House, previous directing credits include Pygmalion, Pornography and Julius Caesar (All LSE Drama Society). He has also acted and produced numerous other productions including Wolf Hall for Tower Theatre Company and Black Comedy, Blasted and We Ruined Each Other (Original Writing) for LSE Drama Society. Assistant Director | Chloe Baker Having performed constantly from a young age for various amateur theatre companies and continued her passion for drama at university, Chloe is swapping the stage for the sidelines, making ‘After the Dance’ her off-stage debut. Her previous acting credits include Made in Dagenham, Mr Burns and Julius Caesar. This is her first show with Sedos. THE CAST We are looking for a main cast of 13 in addition to a number of non-speaking party guests. One of the plays strengths is the eclectic range of fantastic characters. Whilst the prominence of characters does vary, even the smallest of roles has their moment firmly in the spotlight and offers actors an interesting and fun role to ‘play’ with. For all named roles the gender of the characters is fixed but there are no restrictions in terms of ethnicity. We have included a guide playing age for each character but we are interested in finding the right actor for each character so please do not be put off auditioning if you do not fit the age range set out. CHARACTER BREAKDOWN David Scott-Fowler David is a hard-drinking, hard-partying charismatic rogue that both the audience and other characters can’t help fall in love with. He is talented, intelligent, and recognises that he can and potentially should be doing more with his life, however he doesn't necessarily want to. He has spent 12 years married to Joan living a perfectly enjoyable existence and is unsure if he want to change this, or even if he is capable of it. Through the play we see him attempt to become what he believes is a ‘better’ man to devastating effect. He can be loving, petulant, romantic and prone to burst of anger. Playing age 32-45 Joan Scott-Fowler In many ways, Joan is the heart of the play. She is sweet, sarcastic, soft and yet wily. Like David she has been clinging to the hedonistic days of her youth but her claim to have married for amusement is a pretence. She loves David deeply and when her life seems to be drifting away from her she does not know how to react. She has an incredible wit and can be playful, gossipy and quietly vulnerable. Playing age 32-45 Peter Scott-Fowler David’s upstanding cousin and frustrated assistant. Moved to London after graduating from Oxford with the dream of securing a respectable job and marrying his sweetheart Helen. He soon finds himself living with (and off the proceeds of) his cousin and resenting every moment of it. As the play progresses, he loses some of his initial naivety becoming increasingly embittered and simultaneously sympathetic. Playing age 20-25 Helen Banner Peter’s University sweetheart, she is sweet, stubborn, strong-willed and on occasion self-righteous. She finds the childish life of the Scott-Fowlers disgusting and is determined to change David and help him realise the potential she sees in him, only to fall irrevocably in love with him. Helen’s actions drive the narrative of the play and her earnest determination to cause change is an essential counterpoint to the desperate stubbornness of David, Joan and John, Playing age 20-25 John Reid A self-described parasitic lodger who claims he is kept around as a kind of court-jester. John is David and Joan’s closest friend, and like them clings on to the hedonism of his early twenties. Unlike the others he recognises and acknowledges the devastating effect their lifestyle has on themselves and those around them and gradually comes to rectify this, albeit reluctantly to the last. He is capable of being sincere, sarcastic, kind and cruel. Playing age 32-45 Dr George Banner Helen’s sensible and stable older brother who finds the lives of the Scott-Fowler truly bewildering. Playing age 25-30 Julia Browne The gloriously gossipy friend of the Scott-Fowlers, who arrives fresh from having downed a bottle of brandy whilst flying back from a weekend in France with her toy boy Cyril. Julia is the epitome of the 1920’s extravagance the Scott-Fowlers are desperately clinging on to. Playing age 30-45 Cyril Carter Julia Browne’s much younger, working class and slightly dim lover. An alien to the extravagant world of the Scott-Fowlers. Playing age 20-25 Moya Lexington A female pilot just out of rehab and ‘about to fly over the pole’ as she is keen on telling almost everyone. Moya is the exact kind of beautifully ridiculous character you would hope to meet at an over the top 1930’s party. Playing age 30-45 Lawrence Walters A former bright young thing and a friend of the Scott-Fowlers - a loud, louche and lavish presence in their world who enjoys drinking, debauchery and declaring his opinion. Playing age 25-45 Arthur Power A reformed member of the Scott-Fowlers friendship group who has moved to Manchester to set up a window-cleaning business. Whilst his friends have continued to act like oversized children, Arthur has come to realise that the pitiful, often pathetic actions of his generation have achieved little and brought Europe to the brink of another war. A voice of moral reason in a chaotic world. Playing age 35-55 Miss Potter The Scott-Fowlers caustic work-shy house keeper, views their lives world with an oddly curious boredom. Playing age 30-45 Williams Butler to the Scott-Fowlers - an exasperated and often bewildered witness to the decadence of their daily lives and their eclectic range of visitors. Playing age 40-60 In addition to the named characters, we are looking for a number of actors who would be willing to play party guests and fill non-speaking roles. These roles promise to be little in the way of time commitment but a tremendous amount of fun and are ideal for those who want to take part in a show but aren’t always able to commit the time or those who have never acted before. If you would be interested in filling one of these roles please inform us at auditions or email us at [email protected] CASTING RESTRICTIONS Because of overlapping rehearsal periods, it will not be possible to be in After The Dance and any of these Sedos shows: Next Thing You Know; How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.